"The time has come" the Walrus said "to speak of many things ..."
2014 will come to a close in two days time and so I felt this was a good opportunity to take a look back at the goals I set myself at the beginning of the year and see what I achieved and what remains on the To Do list. Apologies in advance - this is going to be very picture heavy.
The first goal was to start and complete a wedding present for one of my oldest friends. This piece was all ready to be framed when the wedding was called off two weeks beforehand. So I am counting this as a completed goal.
The second goal was to complete "April" by the second Thursday in August to hand over to V for her 70th birthday. This goal was also completed and I received a very nice thank you card from V afterwards.
Goal 3 was to start and complete "Corgi" by the second Thursday in September to hand over to I for her 80th birthday. This was a great success and she loved it. Major tick in the box!
My fourth goal was to complete "Guardian Angels" for my Mum by Christmas at the latest. This was an abject fail as I have not worked on this piece since about April. I will be carrying this one over into 2015.
Goal No. 5 was to complete at least one page on "Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose" and I am delighted to say that the last stitches were put into page 5 on 27 December 2014. So a happy dance for the end of the year! This piece is now going on hold for the time being.
My sixth goal was to complete the pages that I was stitching on "Train of Dreams". This was also an abject failure and will be carried over into 2015.
My final goal for 2014 was to stitch my annual Christmas ornaments for my two nieces. This goal was completed, but as I did the finishing on Christmas Eve at my parents' house and without my camera, I don't have a photo to show you yet. As soon as I can get one, I will put it in.
So 5 goals completed out of 7 - relatively good going, I think. However there were also the other achievements that weren't on the list of goals for 2014.
At the beginning of May, I learned to knit again, having knit briefly in my early teens. The results of this are as follows:
My scarf, known as "Learning Curve" which is made up of sections in 13 different stitch patterns.
Three sets of baby booties and mittens - two in yellow and one in blue - one for a work colleague, one for a former work colleague and one for my sister's work colleague. The set shown here were my first knitting finish after I started knitting again.
My first pair of hand knitted socks, courtesy of my sister and brother in law who gave me a sock knitting workshop as an early birthday present. They aren't perfect, but they fit and I have felt so chuffed with myself every time I put them on.
"Breeze", a lace edged headscarf knitted as a Christmas present for my oldest friend. In the beginning, there was much frogging and language, but eventually I got the hang of it and am very pleased with it. I'm hoping to get a picture of it in use to show you.
And finally I hit target at Slimming World - I won't say that I am currently right at target (blame it on Christmas), but I did get there!
So that is my goals for 2014 covered and the extras that came along during the year. What next?
Well, first comes Christmas. This is the crazy patchwork lap quilt that my Mum gave me for snuggling up under when I'm knitting or stitching on the sofa. My parents also gave me two pairs of sock blockers for drying my hand knitted socks on. My sister and brother in law gave me another workshop - this time to learn how to knit socks from the toe up. Most everything else was non-craft related.
And finally my current WIPs:
As you will appreciate, the Christmas festivities have cut into my quiet time so on the sock front, I have managed to complete the ribbed cuff section and move onto the leg.
In the case of my cabled handwarmers, I only managed to finish the ribbed cuff section. Although I can knit stocking stitch in the round while my family play Scrabble right next to me, I am not yet up to knitting cables in company :-)
So that is 2014 for you. I have already started mentally planning my list for 2015, but that is for my next post. I am back to work tomorrow, so will call it a day.
I wish you and yours all the very best for the coming year. May 2015 bring you all that your heart desires, and may the frog stay away from your needles!
Apologies for the lack of post last weekend, but I was away and without internet access. First of all, I was attending a family history conference down in Essex and then I spent a couple of days with family who happen to live nearby. This does not mean that no stitching or knitting took place - au contraire!
Before I went away, my sewing machine and I had a little excursion to Mum's house where I finish-finished Corgi. This piece will be handed over at Patchwork Group on Thursday, and I really hope that the birthday girl likes it after all the work that has gone into it.
Next up is Carnation. I managed to get two blocks done before I went away and two done after I got back, so most of the current row is new to you. Just so that you have some idea how much more I need to do for a page finish, the current row is row 15 and the page finishes with row 19. This means that the line of blue crosses just above the bottom of the photo mark the bottom of the page - 35 blocks to go.
Then you get a knitting start. Knowing how much downtime you have at conferences, I took a ball of yarn and a pair of needles away with me. What you see is just over a week's worth of garter stitch scarf in lurid pink. It doesn't have a name on it but I am sure that I can find a small someone who will make a home for it. I'm not fond of crowds so this is mindless stress relief knitting.
Finally, an update on Breeze. I have to be in the right mindset for this as it requires total concentration. I've managed another couple of repeats on this, so am up to 53 stitches. How I am going to get 129 stitches on that needle, I have no idea!
In other news, having hit target before I went away, I was very glad to discover that I only put on 1lb while on conference etc. Now I just have to make sure that it comes off again.
Anyway, wishing all the best to you and yours, and may the frog steer well clear of your knitting and stitching.
Just for once, blog post night is coinciding with the full moon so I actually get to post my WIPocalypse update on the night itself. I'm not sure whether My Lady Moon is actually going to show her face at all because the weather this past couple of days has been somewhat dodgy with ex-hurricane Bertha dumping on us at irregular intervals.
However, enough of that - you're here for the pictures and the updates.
First, a finish! Corgi is finished, washed and pressed, and only needs to be made up into a 12 inch square, like April. Now Leonore asked why the month names on these pieces. Well, two of the members of the Patchwork Group have 0 birthdays this year. V, who April is for, is 70 this month and I, who Corgi is for, will be 80 next month. Now both ladies have been quilters for a very long time and have quilts coming out of their ears. So instead of making them a group quilt each, they are each receiving a calendar of 12 inch squares and a hanger to display them on. Each of the other members of the group was allocated a month per birthday girl, and I got April for V and November for I. V will be given her present at the monthly meeting this Thursday and I will receive hers at September's meeting.
Mum will be 70 next year and has asked for a similar calendar but on a Gothic/Danse Macabre/Steampunk theme. I have already chosen the chart for this piece, but have over a year in hand to complete it.
Moving on, my secret sampler scarf has grown by 40 rows of Andalusian stitch. I'm thinking that one more section of 40 rows might be all I need to do, but I would like someone else to measure it against my wingspan so will take it to Patchwork Group for checking. There are some minor drawbacks to living alone and this is one of them.
This month we were asked to talk about our oldest WIP and our newest WIP. Having finished Corgi, I started something else. This is Breeze, which all being well will be a Christmas present for my oldest friend. I've already learned not to try and knit even the simplest lace when I'm tired!
As for my oldest WIP, that is Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose as charted by Scarlet Quince. I started this piece on 25 May 2011. I am currently working on page 5 of 12. Sadly Carnation has been on hold since the middle of May this year while I concentrated on getting Corgi done by its deadline. I'm looking forward to getting back to work on this.
In other news, I put on 0.5lb this week (so back to 11 stone 7.5lb) but that was down to Dad's birthday tea, so I'm not overly concerned. This week I am on a First Aid course for three days so am not sure what sort of progress I will make, especially as the course is on the other side of town and I'm getting there on public transport, so a much longer journey than usual.
Anyway, all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your stitching!
I'm a happy bunny!
Page 4 of Corgi was finished on Thursday night, and now all I have to do is stitch the month, my initials and the year, wash and press it, and make it up into a 12 inch square in time for the second Thursday in September. Hopefully the stitching, washing and pressing will get done in time for next week's WIPocalypse post.
Here is a picture of April made up into a 12 inch square so that you know what I mean. April is now finished apart from the sleeve that needs to be stitched across the back so that it can be hung up. It won't look any different from the front when that is done, so this is your last chance to see April. I used my sewing machine for the first time to put this together - fortunately it goes quite slowly so I didn't panic or run my fingers over or anything like that.
On the knitting front, I have finished my 40 rows of parallelograms and am pondering what stitch pattern to choose next. Ideally it will eventually be as long as my outstretched arms with a fringe on each end. We shall see.
In other news, I lost 1.5lb this week so am back down to 11 stone 7lb. I'm starting to think that 11 stone nothing is a target just that bit too far. I've made it down to 11 stone 4.5lb a couple of times, but have been unable to maintain it. I'm reasonably comfortable at this weight and it is just over a stone lighter than how I started out. Food for thought!
But I also had my telephone appointment with the hospital this week. My thyroid levels are back into the normal range and they have halved my medicine to 5mg per day. I have to keep taking the tablets and having the blood tests all the same. I have another telephone appointment in September and then back to the hospital in October. I don't feel any different in myself but obviously the medication is doing something right.
So good news all round. All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your stitching!
School's out for summer, so my nieces and I had an adventure on Friday, and then I had an adventure all by myself yesterday. But we'll start with a progress report.
Despite having a busy week, I have made good progress on Corgi. Page 4 is complete as far down as row 14 and the last two blocks on row 15. The whole dog is now visible and I just have to finish the foreground. I'm hoping to have this done by my next post, and then I will be working on the word "November" down the left hand side.
Following the Turkish stitch debacle, I have now completed the replacement section - ribbons woven horizontally. I am now onto my third ball of yarn and in order to take this photo, I had to lay the scarf out on the floor as I can no longer get a decent picture with it on the bed. It's coming along nicely.
Now for the adventures. Friday's adventure with my nieces was a trip to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster. It was a very hot day and a lot of the animals were having a nap, but we saw lions, a tiger, a leopard, camels, giraffes, ostriches, wallabies, spider monkeys, meerkats, zebras, a skunk and many more. Littlest niece got to hold a Giant Madagascan Hissing Cockroach - apparently it tickled, but definitely rather her than me!
Yesterday I went on an adventure by myself to Fibre East at Ampthill in Bedfordshire. This was my first visit to a fibre festival. I've done quilt shows, and cross stitching things, but this was new. I saw lots of lovely things, met lots of nice people and spent some money on yarn.
What you see there will eventually become, all things being well, five pairs of socks and a hat. I'm going on a workshop in September to learn how to knit socks, and I can't wait.
Moving on, I put on 2lb this week, so back up to 11 stone 8.5lb. What goes on will come off, so I don't worry about it - there's no point.
I'll finish here as my busy week is catching up on me, and wish all the best to you and yours and may the frog stay away from your stitching.
I know that we are supposed to hermit and stitch, and there has been stitching; there has also been knitting and some new knitting experiences. There has also been a lot of rain! Typical British Summer strikes again!
Anyway, on with the show. On the stitching front:
I've been working hard on Corgi. Rows 11 and 12 are finished and I've done the first two blocks on row 13. This side curves in more than the other side did, so there is a bit less stitching to do. I also need to get the word 'November' charted out to go down the left hand side.
My April piece is currently with Mum while she looks for suitable backing and edging fabric. That needs to be completed by the second week in August to be handed over at Patchwork Group.
Although I have enjoyed working on these pieces, I really do want to get them done and dusted, so that I can get back to my own work and Mum's angels.
On the knitting front:
I haven't got a lot of progress to show on my scarf. This is because I messed up. At the beginning of the week I was over-ambitious and decided to do Turkish stitch for the next section. This is a lace stitch and I soon found out that it didn't go well with the yarn or with me. I knitted three rows in total and then gave up.
Yesterday, when I had time in hand, I ripped those three rows back. This was incredibly nerve-wracking - I was so scared that I would end up dropping stitches and ruining the whole thing. Fortunately all went reasonably well and I ended up with the same number of stitches that I started with. I am now doing the next section in "ribbons woven horizontally" and have knitted the first two 8 row repeats.
In more exciting knitting news, I bought stash yesterday and got soaked to the skin in the process. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the person I bought this for doesn't read my blog - I don't think that she does. It's going to be a Christmas present.
But before it can become a Christmas present, it needed to be turned into a ball of yarn. Enter my Mum's vintage "Aero" wool winder, which is now mine. As far as I can tell, this dates to the 1940s, perhaps early 1950s, and is basically a folding mini-swift.
Here it is in action. This was a learning experience. I learned that the end that you are not winding will get wrapped round the central post if you are not careful. I also learned that trying to wind a 50g skein into a ball is not something which you should do at the same time as trying to cook your tea, especially when you need the table to eat off - your tea is likely to get cold.
And here is the final result, which I am quite proud of. Now I just need to get settled and start knitting. Just don't expect to see anything soon - busy week ahead and Corgi must come first.
In other news, I lost 2.5lb this week so am back down to 11 stone 6.5lb. However I got less exercise this weekend because of the rain so will not hold my breath about my next weigh-in.
It's getting late so I will love you and leave you, and may the frog stay well away from your stitching.
Well we're over the halfway line and heading downhill to the end of the year. Where did the last six months go, folks? The kids haven't broken up yet and the supermarkets are full of back to school uniform already!
This is going to be a shortish post - I had a late night last night and need to catch up on some sleep. I got sucked into the computer and didn't escape until well gone midnight.
So, on the stitching front:
From a standing start on Monday morning, I have stitched a whole row on Corgi plus the half block which starts the next row. As you can see, there is also quite a bit of overlap into the row below which should speed things up a bit.
On the knitting front:
Having handed over the baby booties and mittens last week, this week I was working on my secret sampler scarf again. In amongst the yarn stash from last week are four more balls of this yarn, so this piece has gone from nearly finished to about two thirds done as I intend to add another ball to give it better length. I did 40 rows of garter stitch in order to have a plain area onto which I can add more fancy patterns.
I have also bought myself tickets for Fibre East later this month and Yarndale in late September. I'm looking forward to checking out different sorts of yarn and meeting other knitters.
This month's WIPocalypse question relates to Christmas: do you start work on Christmas pieces yet? The answer for me is No! The only Christmas stitching that I do is a tree ornament for each of my nieces, and I won't start thinking about those for another couple of months at least.
In other news, I put on 2lb this week which is not good. I'm back to 11 stone 9lb, which means that I have lost less than a stone now, so this week I'm going to be stricter with myself. I did walk to town and back yesterday, so hopefully that will have helped.
As I said earlier, I need an earlyish night so will leave you now - wishing all the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay away from your stitching.
This is a double Happy Dance post for you all!
On the stitching front, I have a page finish to report:
This is Corgi with page 3 complete as of 5 July 2014. It has taken me just under a month to do this page as I finished page 2 on 5 June 2014 while I was in Cornwall and started page 3 on 9 June 2014 after I returned home. So, in theory, I should be able to get page 4 done by or about the end of July. That will leave me just the wording to stitch. And I am really happy - this piece just looks better and better the more work I do on it.
On the knitting front, I have my first knitting finish to report. One of my work colleagues went on maternity leave on Friday, taking with her these baby booties and mittens. As a first attempt, they are by no means perfect, but both pairs came out near as damn it the same size for which I was very grateful. I started these last Saturday afternoon and sewed up the finished and steam blocked pieces on Thursday night. I thoroughly enjoyed knitting them and finished them with a sense of real achievement. And the mother-to-be liked them as well.
Now I have a confession to make. Earlier this week L from the Patchwork Group and I decided that Mum needed to get out more, so this morning we drove to Leicester to the Fabric Guild. . .
And there was yarn! There are two balls in the little box, so that makes 20 balls in total, which brings my yarn stash to 80 plus balls. There are four more balls of the yarn I am using for my scarf, which means that I can make it longer, which is good, and perhaps a matching hat? The lurid stuff is possibly destined for my nieces, but the rest of it there is really no excuse for. Maybe I need therapy :-)
I also bought some pre-cut 27 count evenweave and 45 skeins of DMC thread (25p each instead of the RRP of 89p).
Moving on, I maintained this week so am still 11 stone 7lb - quite happy with that. Mum is doing fine - very happy with that. However there just aren't enough hours in the day to do all the things that I want to do - stitching, knitting, family history, reading, blogging, reading other people's blogs - so I am going to love you and leave you now, and may the frogs steer well clear of your stitching.
Well it's been a good week this week with plenty of progress to report and new things learned.
On the stitching front, I finished another two rows on Corgi and the first blocks on the last two rows. With luck and a following wind, I will be happy dancing a page finish in my next post - fingers crossed. And then just the last page and the month to go .... This chart is such a pleasure to stitch and the results are so good that I will be taking another look at Yiota's website and seeing what else she has to offer.
Moving on to knitting, this week I knitted 40 rows of simple diamonds onto my scarf. I'm thinking that there will be one more set of 40 rows (pattern to be confirmed) before I turn whatever is left of the yarn into tassels or find some other way to finish this scarf off. It's not going to be a very long scarf but it will be all my own work!!! However it is going on hold this coming week as I have a more urgent knitting project to deal with.
New start! This is an as yet unfinished baby bootie. By close of play on Thursday there will hopefully be two of these plus baby mittens. I have taken advice on this bootie as it seems rather large to me despite having followed the pattern to the letter. I am to carry on as before, but next time I knit a pair of booties I am to use a smaller needle. This is knitted in King Cole Bamboo Cotton in lemon, which feels lovely. New experiences in knitting - k2tog (decrease) and casting off. The next new experience will be sewing this together with garter mattress stitch.
In other news, I lost another 0.5lb this week so am back down to 11 stone 7lb - slow and steady does it. Mum is doing fine apart from some problems sleeping. And I must confess to another yarn accident in Hobbycraft Clearance on Monday night - this was caused by the discovery that I can't give blood until 24 months after I've finished my thyroid treatment, so I could be looking at 2017. This upset me very much as it means a lot to me to give blood - it's a way of contributing, paying forward for the good things in my life. It took another 17 balls of yarn to take the edge off my distress. Now I have over 60 balls of assorted yarn and need ideas for what to do with it. Suggestions on a postcard?
Work tomorrow so I'll love you and leave you. All the best to you and yours, and may the frog steer well clear of your stitching/knitting.
Getting there is perhaps the best way of describing things at the moment - stitching, knitting, Mum's health, my health and weight loss - the things that I tend to write about in these blog posts.
Some things are getting there faster than others, but that is only to be expected.
I made good progress on Corgi this week - completing rows 11 and 12. In answer to Leonore's comment on my last post, this page is 73 stitches deep at the centre, but it curves in from the edge similar to the top pages. In fact the last row on this page only consists of 2 stitches. However this may well go down to the wire - I have to finish this page, stitch the last page, stitch the word 'November' down the left hand side and turn it into a bound 12 inch padded square by the end of August!
On my 'Learning Curve' scarf I knitted 40 rows of mock cables this week. I weighed the remaining yarn which came to 27g, so I'm just under 3/4 of the way there. It's not going to be massively long. but it will go round my neck properly and it will be all my own work.
In other news, Mum was discharged from hospital on Tuesday afternoon following her hip replacement. She could have come home Monday night but the hospital pharmacy closed at 5pm. It opened again at 9am on Tuesday morning, but it took until 2.50pm before I got the 'come and get me' call! And they go on about bed blocking! She is now getting very frustrated because she can't just get on with things. Today she was complaining because she can't bend down to switch the plug socket on so that she can do some ironing. I feel very sorry for Dad, cos he's got to live with her for the next 5 and a bit weeks until she gets the all-clear. Other than that, she is doing fine.
On a personal front, my thyroid medication gets cut to half as of Tuesday, but I haven't noticed any signs of normality yet :-) I also managed to lose 0.5lb this week despite the stresses and strains of Mum being in hospital, so am back to 11 stone 7.5lb.
Sssh - this is a confession. I went to Hobbycraft yesterday - they have their Summer Clearance on - and I came out with 23 balls of assorted yarn!!!! I'm not telling Mum - it wouldn't go down well.
Apologies for the lack of variety in my current posts. All the best to you and yours, and may the frog steer well clear of your stitching.
The year seems to be flying by - halfway through the WIPocalypse year already - and I don't seem to be getting anywhere fast with most of my stitching goals.
The important news is that Mum had her hip replacement operation on Friday and, despite a slight setback yesterday when the drugs didn't agree with her, is doing well. She is up and about on her Zimmer frame, but will need to be confident on her crutches before the hospital will discharge her. It seems likely that yesterday's setback will mean that she is not home tomorrow as originally hoped, but we are keeping our fingers crossed for Tuesday, which is littlest niece's birthday.
In stitching news, I have progress to report.
Having finished page 2 of Corgi last week, this week I moved on to page 3. What you see there is row 10 completed, together with the first block of row 11, and some considerable overlap into the other blocks of row 11. I'm really quite pleased with this and the finished item should look really good.
Moving on to knitting news:
I'm really pleased with this photo. For the first time you can get some idea of the different stitch patterns that I have used so far in this scarf. The last 40 rows have been diagonal moss stitch stripe, but I haven't decided what I am going to do next yet. And thankfully the scarf itself is widening out a bit after the double ribbing section.
This month's WIPocalypse question asks whether I have ever been to a stitch gathering such as a retreat or a festival. I think that the closest I can come to this is when the Patchwork Group have a sewing day. Most of them are retired, so I take a day off work to participate. We all go to someone's house, generally the same person, and take our sewing and our lunch. We sit around and sew and chat, and give help and advice if someone has a WIP which needs a fresh eye. Then we have lunch and the person whose house it is provides a yummy dessert. Then we go back to sewing and chatting for a couple more hours before going home having had a nice relaxing and hopefully productive day with people of like mind. I really enjoy these sewing days, such a nice change from going to work.
I went to Slimming World this week for the first time after my holiday and found that I had put on 2lb, so back to 11 stone 8lb. And after the stressful weekend that I have just had, which is not finished yet, at least not until Mum is safely home, I fully expect to put on a bit more this week :-( Visiting hours are 2.30pm to 5pm and 6pm to 8.30pm, and we are tending to do the late shift, which means that our evening meals are a bit hit and miss and not particularly waistline friendly. However the end is in sight, and I refuse to get het up about a few pounds under the circumstances.
Anyway back to work tomorrow, so all the best to you and yours and may the frog stay away from your stitching.
So yesterday I got back from a week in Cornwall with my parents. I had never been to Cornwall before, despite my brother in law being Cornish, so it was all new to me.
I am not a great photographer so please bear with me. This is the cottage that we stayed in at Camelford. It is a converted cowshed with two double bedrooms, a kitchen cum sitting room and a bathroom. Out the back there was a small enclosed grass area as you can take pets there. It was very comfortable and just right for the three of us, although the last time my parents stayed there, it took four adults and two children easily.
I did a lot of driving in a car much bigger than my own down very narrow twisty lanes where the vegetation at the sides was disguising thick stone walls. By the end of the week I had become quite proficient on Cornish roads, so am feeling quite proud of myself.
This is a photo of the biomes at the Eden Project. The ones in the centre of the picture house the Rainforest and the one to the right is part of the Mediterranean section. When you consider that this place started out as a derelict quarry, it is truly amazing to see what they have created.
This is the harbour at Boscastle with the village in the background. It is 10 years this August since the great flood which caused so much destruction here. Dad and I walked out to the far end of the harbour (behind where I am standing) to look at the sea.
We also went to Tintagel on the same day, but it was very touristy and Mum's leg was playing up so I didn't see the castle.
This is a view of part of the Jungle at the Lost Gardens of Heligan. I think that I preferred Heligan to Eden, but that could partly be because there seemed to be less people there. Dad and I did the Jungle which is down in a valley with a boardwalk and a rope bridge and massive tree ferns etc.
It was nice to go away and see the sights and spend time with my parents, but it was equally nice to come home, sleep in my own bed and be back in my own space.
While I was away, I worked on Corgi and on my scarf.
And ta da! This is a page finish! Page 2 of Corgi was finished on 5 June 2014. I now have two smaller pages to complete before the end of August - about 9,000 stitches so roughly 90 hours work.
After doing 40 rows of double ribbing, I decided that I needed to do the next 40 rows in something which would widen my scarf out again. So the next stitch was 'caterpillars crawling', otherwise known as 'dash stitch'. As you can see, my scarf has started to widen out again but it will still need serious blocking. I also had to join in the second ball of yarn towards the end of this section.
In other news, I did the Race for Life this morning - 5km in aid of Cancer Research UK. Normally Mum and I do this together, but she wisely gave it a miss this year. I walked every step of the way without stopping and my finishing time was 46 minutes, 4 seconds. Now I just have to collect in my sponsor money.
And finally Mum goes in for her hip replacement this coming Friday, 13 June 2014. We are all quite OK about it, but if any of you would care to keep your fingers crossed or put in a word with the powers that be, that would be very kind of you. I will give you an update in my next post.
I'll finish here as I am back to work in the morning and expect to have plenty to catch up with. All the best to you and yours, and may the frog stay well away from your stitching.
This is just a brief catch-up post as I have been away in Cornwall for a week with my parents where I had no internet. I will show you some holiday snaps in my next post.
You may remember that my original list of goals for 2014 has now been put on one side in a desperate attempt to get Corgi finished in time for I's 80th birthday.
This is Corgi as of close of play on 1 June 2014 - not quite a page finish, but not far off. I took this piece away with me so that I could work on it in the evenings.
I also took my knitting with me. As of 1 June 2014 I had finished the 40 rows of double ribbing. If anything goes to prove that the name 'Learning Curve' was the right one to pick, this is it. If I had realised beforehand that double ribbing would pull the stitches in, I would have chosen a different stitch to do at this point. As it is, I will have to block it hard and hope that it broadens out.
In other news, I finally had my hospital appointment on the Wednesday before I went away. I now have an official diagnosis of Graves' disease - overactive thyroid caused by a superabundance of antibodies in my system. I shall be on medication for the next 12 to 18 months and having blood tests every 6 to 8 weeks to keep an eye on my thyroid levels. My next appointment is in October. The medication is supposed to return me to normal - whatever that is!
I also went to Slimming World before I went away and found that I had put on 1.5lb so was back to 11 stone 6lb. I was not too bothered about this, especially as I was about to go away and probably put more weight on.
Next post - what I did on my holidays . . . .
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